Insider Selling: Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) VP Sells $127,687.00 in Stock

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) VP Robert Denis Brown sold 24,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.18, for a total transaction of $127,687.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 424,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,196,889.80. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Hecla Mining Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Hecla Mining stock opened at $5.14 on Friday. Hecla Mining has a 12-month low of $3.51 and a 12-month high of $7.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a PE ratio of 102.72 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a 50-day moving average of $5.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.87.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.01). Hecla Mining had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 3.10%. The company had revenue of $249.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $229.21 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Hecla Mining will post 0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hecla Mining Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.0038 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 61,393,040 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $301,440,000 after purchasing an additional 774,000 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 54,680,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $391,510,000 after purchasing an additional 2,238,559 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 100.5% during the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,885,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $77,999,000 after purchasing an additional 7,960,826 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,904,662 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $68,289,000 after purchasing an additional 39,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,220,645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,453,000 after purchasing an additional 502,094 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on HL. Roth Mkm cut their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $6.60 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $11.50 price target on shares of Hecla Mining in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Hecla Mining from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. TD Securities cut their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, National Bank Financial cut shares of Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $8.00.

About Hecla Mining

Hecla Mining Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides precious and base metal properties in the United States, Canada, Japan, Korea, and China. The company mines for silver, gold, lead, and zinc concentrates, as well as carbon material containing silver and gold for custom smelters, metal traders, and third-party processors; and doré containing silver and gold.